1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cover for use with garment hangers for the purpose of protecting a garment draped on the hanger from hanger marks and creasing. More specifically, it relates to a cover which is foldable for easy use, shipping and handling, and which is quickly and easily assembled onto the hanger.
2. Description of Related Art
Wire hangers for hanging clothing are commonly used in the dry cleaning and garment manufacturing industries. A typical wire hanger consists of a single length of wire which is bent into a generally triangular base, having a hook portion. Significantly, the triangular base includes two downwardly angled opposed arms which are often used to support the garment.
The use of the wire arms to support the garment often results in the garment developing hanger marks or creases from direct contact with the hanger. This is a result of the relative thinness of the wire used to construct the wire hanger. In addition, the lower ends of the wire arms often create creases near the garment""s sleeves. A further result of placing freshly-pressed garments on wire hangers is that, even if the crease does not appear, the hanging of the garment on the hanger results in a tight curve around the shoulders. While this does not affect garments which are intended to follow the natural shape of the body, there are some instances where it is desired to have the garment xe2x80x9csetxe2x80x9d with a broader curve around the shoulders.
For this reason, covers are used to prevent direct contact between the garment and the hanger in order to reduce hanger marks. It is desired for the cover to have a surface which is much wider and more rounded than the hanger in order to prevent creasing of the garment from the sharp edges of the wire hanger. The shape of the cover preferably simulates the shape of the general shoulder area of a person so that the garment will have a more natural appearance when removed from the hanger. To this end, the sides of the cover are preferably directed outwardly and downwardly from the hanger.
Generally, covers for hangers are sold, packaged and shipped in large quantities. The use of a cover involves extra steps in preparing the garment for the customer. Normally the cover is packaged in a flat folded form, or unfolded. This means that in order to create the desired final form of the cover, the cover must be manipulated by personnel at the dry cleaner plant or other facility. It is desirable to reduce the time necessary for manipulation of the cover when using such a cover. In addition, there is an inherent instability to garment covers in that the cover is a substantially different shape than the narrow hanger on which it is mounted. While the hanger hook prevents some movement, if the cover rotates or otherwise slips sideways, it can either fall off or require additional manipulation of the garment to center the garment on the hanger.
In the case of garments supported by straps, it is desired to provide a place to retain the straps. This is the case where multiple garments are placed on a single hanger. There are also some garments which tend to move sideways because of a large neck opening or the like. For example, dresses with large necklines tend to be unstable on a downwardly sloping hanger. Such garments often have hanger straps which can be used to stabilize the garment. While such straps can sometimes be placed over the hanger""s hook, this requires additional manipulation of the garment. It is desired to provide for such straps with a hanger. In addition, some garments tend to hang better when supported on relatively horizontal portions of a hanger, so it is also desired to provide for such support.
If multiple garments are provided to a customer, it often the case that the garments are tied together by tying the hangers together. It is possible to tie the garments at the hook above the downwardly angled opposed arms which are part of the hanger""s triangular base; however, it is often desired to tie the hangers together. If a garment cover is mounted to the base, then threading a hanger tie through the base is made difficult.
Ideally, the hanger guard should be inexpensive, convenient to store, easily and quickly placed in its final form and installed onto the hanger, and easily held in a desired position on the hanger. It is also desired to provide a means for supporting hanger straps of a garment and supporting garments with wide necklines or which are otherwise difficult to support on a downwardly sloping hanger. It is further desired that the hanger guard be made from a monolithic material such as cardboard, which is readily recycled.
The following United States patents may be of interest to provide background to past hanger guards:
U.S. Pat. No. 1,715,004 to Johnson; U.S. Pat. No. 2,434,461 to Forcheimer; U.S. Pat. No. 2,873,054 to Zintel; U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,430 to Zintel; U.S. Pat. No. 3,117,806 to Kestner; U.S. Pat. No. 3,203,330 to Hawkins; U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,296 to Gelman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,734 to Seitz; U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,287 to Bevelander; U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,997 to Nash; U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,436 to Moon et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,022 to Seitz ; U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,184 to Seitz; U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,835 to Murphy; U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,645 to Seitz; U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,572 to Kiselik; U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,989 to Kiselik; U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,262 to Kiselik.
According to one aspect of the invention, a hanger guard is provided from a form which permits folding of the hanger guard to a flat configuration. When the hanger guard is unfolded, it forms a curved profile, which is prearranged to be a desired curved shape when the hanger guard is unfolded to approximately that of a standard wire clothes hanger. This curved shape provided a preferred form for supporting garments while resting on the hanger. The form is such that angles on both sides of a hinged portion are substantially identical. In addition, the hinged arrangement includes slots which can be conveniently used to thread hanger ties beneath hook portions of hangers, including those with the hanger guard. Side cutouts serve to enhance the tendency of the hanger to retain a curved shape and provide resting spots for wide neckline garments and for hanger straps on garments. The hanger may also have cut regions which can be used to extend downwardly over the clothes hanger in order to stabilize the hanger guard in its position on the clothes hanger.